Skinning machines such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 23,222; U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,728; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,027 are employed to remove the skins from meat products. Generally speaking, the skinning machines are provided with a driven toothed roll rotatably mounted on a frame means adjacent one end of a feed tray or the like. A pressure shoe means having a skinning blade mounted thereon is movably mounted on the frame means and is adapted to sever the skin from the meat product with the severed skin passing between the toothed roll and the pressure shoe means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,105 disclosed a plastic stripping blade or element for use on the machines described above. The plastic stripping element disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,105 overcame many of the disadvantages of the prior art and the instant invention represents an improvement over the stripping blades of said patent in that a stripping element is provided which oscillates laterally to permit the stripping elements to be self-cleaning. Further, the instant invention provides a better stripping action than the stripping blades of U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,105 and the adjustment means of this invention also is vastly improved over that disclosed in said patent.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a stripping means for a skinning machine.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stripper means for a meat skinning machines comprising a plurality of spaced apart stripper elements which are adjustably movable towards and away from the toothed stripper roll.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stripper means for meat skinning machines comprising a plurality of spaced apart stripper elements including a hook portion which extends more than one-half the circumference of the driven toothed roll.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stripper means for meat skinning machines comprising a plurality of spaced apart stripper elements which oscillate laterally so that they are self-cleaning.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stripper means for meat skinning machines which may be easily cleaned.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stripper means for meat skinning machines comprising a plurality of stripper elements with each of the stripper elements including a hook portion positioned in a groove in the toothed roller wherein the height of the hook portion is slightly higher than the base of the teeth so that just a small portion of the teeth is exposed.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a stripping means for meat skinning machines which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.